Book Review: Insurgent

 

Title: Insurgent
Author: Veronica Roth
Category: Young Adult; Dystopia
Length: 525 pages
My Rating: 6 – Good, recommend with reservations

From Goodreads.com: One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

"New York Times" bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian "Divergent" series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

My Thoughts

I read Divergent (the first in the series) last  year, only to be reminded that I hate starting an incomplete series—I made this mistake with The Hunger Games as well. So I told myself that I wouldn't read the next book until right before the final book was going to be published (October 2013). I wasn't very successful with the waiting. Oh, well.

So far, both Divergent and Insurgent have been easy, quick, and entertaining reads. This is all I hoped for when I picked them up so, from that aspect, I have not been disappointed. I do not think Insurgent was written quite as well as Divergent, and I might even consider going so far as to accuse Ms. Roth of writing it with a screenplay in mind. Nevertheless, the book was quick-paced and I did want to finish it.

This may seem silly, but my favorite thing about this series is that there is no love triangle. I love that. Yes, the two lovebirds frustrated the hell out of me at times, but I am glad there is no third love interest in the mix.  

Tris annoys me a lot. Her pig-headed, impulsiveness had me rolling my eyes more than once. Her type of courage—the "I think I can save everyone by doing something completely stupid" kind—is not admirable to me. A lot of the time I just felt like she was trying too hard to be tough, and it got old.

I was really unimpressed by the ending. It was not a big reveal, nor was it shocking. Actually, it was very anti-climactic for me. And, while I will be reading the third book, I am not anxious about its publication like I was when I finished Divergent.